Growing Our PEARLS and ASSETS Through a Support Ecosystem for Low-Income Academically Talented Students

This research to practice paper describes two NSF-funded projects: The “Program for Engineering Access, Retention, and LIATS Success“ (PEARLS) and the “Academic and Socioemotional Support Ecosystem for Talented low-income STEM Students“ (ASSETS). These initiatives aim to support low-income, academically talented students pursuing STEM degrees, offering academic, socio-emotional, and financial assistance. Both projects provide mentoring, workshops, mental health services, and scholarships. Outcomes have shown increased engagement, retention, and graduation rates among participants compared to non-participants. Retention and persistence rates among PEARLS participants reached 97% and 96.3% respectively, showcasing the model effectiveness in keeping students focused on their studies. Graduation rates saw remarkable improvements, with on-time graduation rates soaring to 4.17 times that of non-participating students. The paper presents a robust framework for an integrated support ecosystem, emphasizing scalability and replicability across diverse institutions. By addressing the challenges faced by underprivileged students during environmental crises, this framework aims to foster equity and inclusion in higher education, ensuring all students have the support they need to succeed.